Unique Selling Point (USP) - a feature of a product or service that allows it to be differentiated from other products

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Product Portoflio

the range of products or brands provided by a business

Product Portfolio Analysis - the study of the range of products with a view to deciding whether new products should be added to the portfolio and whether any existing products should no longer be provided

Boston Matrix - a tool of product portfolio analysis that classifies products according to the market share of the product and the rate of growth of the market in which the product is sold

Stars -high market share, high market growth

Cash Cows - low market growth, high market share

Problem Child - high market growth, low market share

Dogs - low market growth, low market share

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Product Life Cycle

the stages that a product passes through during its lifetime - development, introduction, growth, maturity and decline

Extension strategies - methods used to lengthen the life cycle of a product by preventing or delaying it from reaching the decline stage of the product life cycle

Types of extension strategies

attracting new market segments

increasing usage among existing customers

modifying the product

change the image

targeting new markets

promotions, advertising and price offers

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Promotion

the process of communicating with customers or potential customers

AIDA - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action

Promotional Mix - the coordination of the various methods of promotional mix in order to achieve overall marketing targets

Public Relations (PR) - gaining favourable publicity through the media

Branding - the process of differentiating a product or service from its competitors through the name, sign, symbol, design or slogan linked to the product or service

Merchandising - attempts to persuade consumers to take action at the 'point of sale' or 'point of purchase'

Sales Promotion - short term incentives used to persuade consumers to buy a particular product

Direct Selling - communicating directly to the individual consumers through an appropriate form of communication e.g. postal system or telephone etc

Place

Distribution Channels - channels or routes through which a product passes in moving from the manufacturer to the consumer

Distributors - businesses involved in the process of making a product available to the end customers or consumers

Retailers - businesses who buy form wholesalers or direct from producers for sale to the public in shops or retail outlets

Wholesalers - businesses who buy large quantities of goods from producers for a resale in smaller quantities to retailers

Traditional - producer - wholesalers - retailers - consumers

Modern - producer - retailer - consumer

Direct - producer - consumer

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Place

Factors influencing the method of distribution

the size of the retailer

the type of product

technology

the geography of the market

the degree of control desired by the manufacturer

the complexity of the product

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Marketing & Competitiveness

Competitiveness - the ability of businesses to sell their products successfully in the market in which they are based

Monopoly - in theory, a single producer in a market but in practice a firm with a market share of 25% or more, has control over prices and supply

Oligopoly - a market dominated by a small number of large businesses, they sell similar products that have some control over price

Cartel - a group of firms that come together to agree price and output levels in an industry

Monopolistic Competition - where a large number of firms are competing in a market, each having enough product differentiation to achieve a degree of monopoly power and therefore some control over the price they charge

Perfect Competition - where many firms sell an identical product that have no control over price

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Marketing & Competitiveness

Factors determining competitiveness

the effectiveness of the marketing mix

incentive schemes for staff

improvements to operational procedures

quality procedures

financial planning and control

Methods of improving competitiveness

marketing

reducing costs

improving quality

staff training

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Porters's 5 Forces Model

This model is used to understand the factors effecting the industry within which firm operates